Techniques for deriving and using noise estimate for data reception in a wireless communication system are described. A noise estimate may be derived for each packet received in a data transmission. Data detection may then be performed for each packet using the noise estimate for that packet. For noise estimation, a first sample sequence and a second sample sequence may be obtained from each receiver used for data reception. A phase offset between the first and second sample sequences may be determined and applied to the first sample sequence for each receiver to obtain a third sample sequence for that receiver. A noise estimate may then be derived based on the power of the differences between the second and third sample sequences for the at least one receiver.